The invention relates to equipment for stripping a multi-core cable, wherein a transport unit for transport of the cable in the axial direction of the cable, a knife for desheathing the cable and a further knife for stripping the untwisted cable cores are provided.
A stripping device for multi-core cables has become known from the disclosure of WO99/52188. Cable cores are mechanically untwisted by a stripping movement and oriented parallel to one another before the cable cores are stripped by means of multiple knives. The stripping movement and the parallel orientation are achieved by means of spring-loaded, mutually opposed jaws, wherein the jaws act as resilient slide members. The cable cores execute a movement relative to the slide members whereby the untwisted cable cores are separated and oriented to be parallel before the stripping.
A disadvantage of the known equipment resides in the fact that, due to the stripping movement, forces act in the cable""s axial direction on the insulation of the cable cores which slightly stretch the insulation. After the stripping, the insulation can compress again, resulting in overly-large, material-dependent stripped lengths.
The present invention avoids the disadvantages of known equipment and presents a construction by means of which the cable cores of a cable can be untwisted and oriented in problem-free manner.
The advantages achieved by the invention are essentially to be seen in the fact that the resilient insulation is not stretched during untwisting of the cable cores. The stripped length of the cable cores does not change after the untwisting. The stripped length of the cable cores as predetermined by the stripping is maintained. Moreover, shorter desheathed lengths can be realised, because the insulation is not stretched.
The invention includes a transport unit for axial transport of the cable, a knife for desheathing the cable, means for untwisting the cores and orienting the cores parallel to each other, and a knife for stripping the cores. The cores are untwisted and oriented parallel without the application of an axial force to their installation. The untwisting and orientation may be performed by a separator which may include rollers, engage the cores and act transversely to the axial direction of the cable.